


Better Late Than Never!

by Beaconestbacon117



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Action & Romance, Comedy, F/M, Fantasy, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29207943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beaconestbacon117/pseuds/Beaconestbacon117
Summary: Over 20 years after a devastating case broke apart the ZPD's most infamous duo, their children join the force. Frost Wilde has to juggle a double life as an actor and a police officer as Lauren Hopps struggles to rise above the shadow of her mother. As mysterious forces try to eliminate the two officers, some intervention is needed.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

Chief Bogo glared at the rabbit in front of her as she also glared back. A fiery violet clashed with a stern brown as the two females searched for any weakness they could exploit. "It's like the unstoppable force meets the immovable object," the third mammal in the room scoffed as he adjusted the ice pack on his stomach. Both pairs of eyes shot to him as he returned the glares with an innocent smile.

The gray rabbit growled and slumped back in her chair, shooting one last challenging glare at the water buffalo. The water buffalo sighed as she rubbed her temples. Her father warned her. As soon as he saw those names, he said they would cause a lot of trouble. And here they are. The pure white fox chuckled and Chief Bogo found his emerald eyes unsettling. She noticed that sometimes they glinted with a coldness she couldn't put her finger on, and she really didn't like it. 

"Hopps, what warranted assaulting another officer?" The rabbit glared at the pure white fox in the other chair and turned back to the bovine.

"He groped me first," the rabbit grumbled with her arms crossed.

"Hey!" The fox barked. "My hand just grazed your butt!" Frost Wilde and Lauren Hopps, the children of Zootopia's most successful police duo. Lauren has been at Frost's throat since she joined the force, while the arctic fox just tries to keep to himself. But when he does interact with Lauren, all he does is fan the flames. The incident in question this time was the rabbit officer drop-kicking Frost through the Bullpen podium. 

"You could've put in a complaint with Mammal Resources," Chief Bogo sighed in exasperation.

"To be fair," the fox piped in. "MR doesn't do anything. I put in a report when Jenny came to work drunk, straddled me, and proceeded to grind on me. I mean she gave me a cupcake as an apology, so I guess it didn't really matter." Another problem with Wilde. Many of the small, single, female predators were infatuated with him. She could hear the gossip while she was in the locker room. Her father summed it up to his father's sweet talking and looks from his mother, whoever that was.

"She has horrible taste," the rabbit mumbled. Lauren, on the other hand, was one of the most respected officers on the force. It was just that no one really enjoyed being in her company. As far as the water buffalo knows, she has never been invited to any external affairs such as parties and just drinking out with other officers. Except Frost. He is the only officer that she's seen to actually ask the lapine if she wants to hang out. She always declines, but he still is the only one. "She could've done much better than a meter maid." Hopps spat out the last word as if it was the nastiest words to ever come from her mouth.

"I mean, tell that to all the girls chasing my tail. It'll make my life easier."

"You know what? This conversation is getting us nowhere," Chief Bogo snapped. "Wilde, Hopps. Go home. I'll think of a solution myself." The two mammals got up and exited the office. Chief Bogo almost chuckled to herself when Frost used the door to shield himself as Lauren passed. He gave the Chief a quick wave and a smile before slipping outside. Bogo sat down and began filling out some papers for her plan. She just hopes that her plan doesn't get anybody stuck in the hospital. 

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Frost stepped out of shower feeling refreshed. He flexed his black paws in front of his face and blessed his mother's studio makeup to help hide them without bleaching them. The dye itself wasn't too bad, mostly just the chemical used for washing it out burning his sensitive nose. He looked into the mirror and made sure he got all the white dye off his black tipped ears. He checked his hind legs and tail and found it satisfactorily clean. The full body hair dryer blew his fur all over the place and he let out a frustrated growl as he brushed it all back down. The pain of his fluffy coat. He pulled on a white dress shirt and his boxers and hung up his towel. He walked out of the bathroom to find his brother with a cheetah in a compromising position on his desk. 

"Clawhauser, what the in the name of Karma are you doing ON MY DESK?!" Frost yelled.

"Banging your brother," the cheetah replied with gasp. "We just finished." 

"I sleep there sometimes!" He snapped. "There are like a million places that isn't where I do most of my work where you can do that!" 

"I mean it is pretty comfy," the cheetah purred. "Not like you're going to sleep on it anytime soon though, Nathan." Frost glared at her for using his real name. His glare then moved to his brother, who gave him an apologetic shrug. 

"What are you doing in my condo anyway?" Frost huffed as he pulled up his slacks. "Aren't you going to get ready?"

"Nope," his brother, Daniel, replied with his arms behind his head. His bright orange fur making him almost the spitting image of their father. "Going out with dad. This was your movie. By the way, the old fox was asking if you were ok. With you juggling acting and police work, all that jazz?" Frost was not surprised his father wasn't coming. His father ran his clothing line Wilde Style with very little public appearances. He also never attends any of their mother's get togethers because he doesn't like crowds.

"I'm a meter maid," Frost said dismissively. "Acting took priority for the last two years." He pulled on his blazer and looked back at the two mammals in the same position on his desk. "Clean up and lock up after yourselves. I'll disinfect that thing later."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;:::::

Jenny popped some popcorn in her mouth as she watched Lauren grumble as she pulled on her dress. The coyote chuckled as the rabbit glared at her greasy fingers. "Wash your hands so you can help me with this crap!" The rabbit snapped as she tried to reach for the zipper on her back. 

"Okay, grumpy," Jenny grumbled as she got up and went to the sink. "But you are the one who insists you never need any help." The doe glared at her with a scowl as the coyote cackled. She loved messing with the overly serious rabbit. Ever since they became roommates three years ago, they learned each other's personalities well. The stuck up rabbit was actually a slob when it came to her personal life. The coyote has to clean her room every week just so she doesn't reuse her clothes. They also share the same celebrity crush, (although Lauren will never admit it) Nathan Veruc. Which is why the gray rabbit was actually dolling herself up. Her mother and father were supposed to be at a prerelease celebration because her father was the VFX director of the movie the fox is in. Apparently, the train ran into some serious technical difficulties. So Lauren gets to go in their place.

"You look really nice in that dress," Jenny said as she expertly zipped up the dress and adjusting everything. "Luckily I found it on such short notice." The dress was a knee length black dress with a light blue shoulder strap that continued across the body until it tapered to a point at the waist. 

"I guess," the rabbit grunted as she looked at herself in the mirror. Jenny smiled as she began to affix a black bow to her ears. The poor little doe didn't know how pretty she was. Her personality just pushed anyone interested away. She stepped back and admired her friend. The rabbit fidgeted uncomfortably under her gaze and the coyote couldn't help but want to pet the cute little rabbit. 

"C'mon, knock him dead," she reassured her friend. "I'll drive you and call me when it's over so I can pick you up."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Somewhere else, two foxes looked on in interest at the scene in a pool. The vixen growled as the other fox stifled a snicker. "I have no idea how you messed this up so bad!" A human walked up behind them reading from a data pad. His armor glowed in the dark room as he scrolled on through the document.

"I really don't know," the human sighed as he rubbed his faceplate. "What happened here was so far from the outline of this world it's almost as if it was done intentionally. And you want us to fix this?" 

"You think I didn't think about that!" The vixen snarled. "Everything was supposed to be fine, but I slacked off! I'm supposed to make sure the good and the bad are returned equally! But I can't even do that!" The human and other fox both chuckled at her plight as the grip on her coffee mug tightened.

"We can't fix it, but we can mend it so the damage does not get worse." The three occupants focused their attention on a rabbit with a tray of cookies. "That is all we can do now."

"We can do much more than that," the human chuckled. "We just need to be mindful and precise of what we do, Serendipity."

"You mean like the train?" The male fox chuckled.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

That Morning

The human snuck into the engine room unseen due to his cloaking technology. The train was almost at Bunnyburrows and he was running out of time. He looked at the consoles in front of him. As an engineer himself, he knew which consoles would cause the right amount of delay without causing any casualties. Now to damage them as gently and inconspicuously as possible.

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" He roared as he pummeled the consoles. With his armor and augmentations, the metal bent like cardboard beneath his fists. He pulled back his left arm and thrust it forward with all his strength. "ORA!" 

The console was pried from its spot and flew off to his right. He turned his back to the consoles as he dissolved into dust and was teleported back to Karma's domain.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;;::::::

"Nobody noticed," the human shrugged. "And besides, it got results. Right, Karmmy?" The vixen didn't say anything. She simply stood up and threw the coffee mug in her hands directly into his crotch at mach speed.


	2. The Black King's Pieces

Chapter 2   
Frost stood next to his mother as the rest of the guests arrived. There were the crew and their families streaming in and joining in the festivities. He adjusted his light blue tie as his mother smiled at him, her blue eyes glinting with amusement. If anyone was the image of aging gracefully, it was his mother. Her pure white coat revealed nothing of her age. Her blue eyes were still full of energy and her body was still spry. The only way to know her age was if she told it to you. Which she isn't afraid to. Natasha Veruc was fifty-seven years old and still a front runner in the industry. Which made Frost's job twice as hard. The standards for him and his brother skyrocketed as soon as they entered the entertainment industry. Daniel just had the luxury of going into music instead of acting.   
"Nervous, da?" The older vixen chuckled. "Or are you finally looking for a vixen to give me grandkits?" Frost rolled his eyes. His mother and grandmothers are waiting for him or his brother to have kids. Daniel was out of the running for them since he is planning to marry Tiffany Clawhauser, who is a cheetah. But, they are planning to have a surrogate mother, so there's that.   
"No, you know I hate ties," he growled as he pulled at it. He also hates suit jackets and his was currently hanging from the coat rack in their dressing room. The director wanted him to keep the tie so that he could match with his co-star, Joyeux, who was Gazelle's daughter. He never understood weird celebrity naming trends. At least Frost was just his middle name.   
"But your father loves ties," she purred. "And I love pulling them."  
"Dear Karma, Mom!" The younger white and black fox whined as the pure white vixen cackled. "I'm going away now before you make me vomit."  
"Go have fun!" She called after him. He waved back at her as he headed into the crowd. He immediately spotted two horns in a throng of mammals. The crowd parted as he approached the female gazelle in the center of the crowd.   
"Always have to be the center of attention, Joyeux?" Frost stuffed his hands into his pockets as she spun around and cocked a brow.  
"Of course I love attention! I just don't usually get the attention for two famous mammals!" She shot back as she flicked his ear. The fox looked down at her extravagant light blue and black dress and raised a brow back. "Shove it and take some photos with me. They want photos of both Shadow Mages." The fox folded his sleeves as the two mammals got into multiple spell casting poses. Both the press and fans kept him and Joyeux busy for about thirty minutes before she retired because she needed to sit down. Frost sat next to her and gave her a toothy grin.   
"I will spill the entire punch bowl over your head," she threatened. "I've done it twice already."   
"Well, I'll still look good while you're doing. Like twice before," he shot back smugly. He caught movement in the corner of his eye and glanced at his other side. He almost did a double take at the grey rabbit beside him. It was Lauren. Not only that, she looked absolutely charming. Her light blue accent on her black dress immediately caught his eye. He immediately shot his attention back to her face. Why was she here?   
"Who you looking at?" The gazelle popped over his shoulder and looked at the rabbit. "Oh, hi! What's your name?" Instead of a gruff reply like he was used to, her eyes widened and her voice caught in her throat.  
"Um, I-I'm Lauren Hopps. Barry Burrs daughter," she sputtered out. Frost was almost completely floored by multiple things. The fact that she was the child of one of the kindest mammals he knew. The fact that she looked nice in her dress. Especially the fact that she was acting like she was a fangirl meeting her idols for the first time. The fox's mind rebooted as soon as that thought entered his head. Barry said that Frost was very popular, even in BunnyBurrows. Specifically one of his daughters has been a huge fan since his first role in an tv show when he was fourteen. He swore there was an audible click as he put everything together. He can easily turn on her and wound her on an emotional level. There was one problem though. All the abuse he took from the rabbit for the last three years and he found he didn't hold it against her. He didn't even know he worked with her father, so what else didn't he know about her? His father telling him to never judge a mammal by their cover came to mind and he immediately felt guilty for even considering it. He gave her a soft smile and his hand.  
"Hello, Lauren," he purred as she shyly shook his hand. "If you're a Hopps, doesn't that mean you're related to Judy Hopps?" He was unprepared for the coldness that flashed across her face. It was so fast he almost didn't catch it.   
"Yes," she said somewhat subdued. "I'm her daughter." Frost wasn't surprised about that. She was almost a carbon copy of the famous police officer except for her fully dark gray ear. She seemed tender at the subject of her mother so he decided to change the subject.   
"So do you have any favorite movies?" He asked as her ears turned red.  
"I'm Sorry, Juliet," she muttered as she rubbed the back of her neck. "It still makes me cry when I watch it." The gazelle behind him gasped and scooted her chair closer to the rabbit.   
"That's my favorite movie of Nathan's!" She grabbed Lauren's hands and brought them closer to her. "What's your favorite part?" The rabbit was shocked for a second before answering.   
"Juliet's breakdown while she was possessing Jules," she turned her attention to Frost with admiration glimmering in her eyes. "The switch from being triumphant at her victory over her lover to her grasping for any glimpse of happiness from his demise."   
"And when Jules shared his memories with her to show that Romeo still loved her and was trying to keep her memory alive," Joyeux interjected. Frost remembered he got an Ocelot award for that. The entire scene playing as two mammals in a struggle of truth definitely made him work for it.  
"The realization of her mistake and her fit of anguish slowly building up," Lauren continued as she stared off into space. "And the final scene before the time jump. Her in disbelief as a Romeo we couldn't see or hear went back for her. As Juliet in Jules body yelled at her old lover's ghost for answers, like why he didn't hate her. Until an understanding was silently reached and Juliet left Jules for the last time." A tear threatened to fall as she recalled the scene. Lauren wiped the tear away and gave them both a shy smile.  
"I hate that scene," the gazelle grumbled as the arctic fox chuckled. "I always ugly cry when watching it." Frost knew that meant she rewatched that scene multiple times while watching the movie. The scene held a special place in his heart too. It was inspired by the first time his father opened up to him and it also pushed him from doing his usual action to more drama/tragedy.   
"Well," Lauren sighed. "I also like the video games that you voice acted in." The inside of her ears started turning red again as she began playing with the hem of her dress. The fox gave her a genuine smile because no one really notices anything that isn't a movie or tv show.   
"Even the ones with corny voice acting?" The gazelle piped in.  
"Oh, so we're going to bring those up, are we?" Frost retorted with a devious grin.  
"I am actually quite a big fan of Joyeux too," the rabbit said with a seemingly innocent smile as the larger prey animals face paled.  
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
A cream colored rabbit stood next to two foxes as she happily ate a plate of sweets. The younger fox, who was black with a white fluffy chest, paws, tails, and ears, munched on a plate of his own sweets. The grey fox, Dian, leaned against a table as he watched the three mammals from afar. He let his gaze drift to Gazelle, who came in as a surprise visit to the party because of the black fox. He didn't know how, but he managed to get her to drop by without much hassle.   
"You're going to eat out the entire venue at this rate," the grey fox finally spoke. He watched as the golden eyes of the black fox darted to him quizzically. He remembered the kit's father from when he was much younger. His ice cold gaze was something his child didn't inherit, but his ability to wordlessly convey his intentions definitely showed. Right now it said, "So what? I'll do it again just to spite them." The rabbit waved her hand in the air dismissively.  
"They're too busy with Miss Gazelle over there to interrupt us and our targets. Good job, Leon. How'd you do it?"  
"If there's one thing my mother taught me, it was how to sweet talk women," the black fox responded flatly as he bit into an eclair. "Also, I set up a date with Dian and Joyeux." The grey fox stared at him in disbelief, waiting for the punchline of the joke. "You are the punchline, buddy."  
"You are pawning me off like a toy?" Dian was appalled at how flippantly he just sold him.   
"Mom did it to Dad all the time," he replied cheerily. The cream rabbit almost choked on her cake and looked directly at Leon.  
"What is wrong with your family?!"  
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
"Auntie Natty! Nathan and his new friend are bullying me!" Joyeux ran behind Natasha Veruc and hid behind her as she shot Lauren and Nathan death glares. The arctic fox chuckled as she began petting her head reassuringly. Lauren and Nathan walked up casually to them as they both stifled their laughter from the ridiculous display. They spent the last fifteen minutes bringing up some of the gazelle's worst acting roles until she finally stomped her hoof and ran off.   
"Sent her crying to my mother," the actor said triumphantly as he held a hand up to her. It took her a second to realize he wanted to hi-five her. She hopped up and slapped her paw against his. "I think that's a win for me."  
"I think coming here was a win for me," the rabbit's mouth spoke before her brain could catch up. The fox was shocked for a second before his face changed into a soft smile.  
"Me too," he purred. Lauren smiled back and nodded. It felt so surreal to her that one of her idols was so casually conversing with her. He looked away for a second as he scratched the back of his head. "If you're free Saturday, we can get some lunch."   
"W-what?" She sputtered. She wasn't prepared for the question at all and she only got more flustered as his smile didn't falter as she stumbled over an answer. "O-of course! Of course I would love to get some lunch!" She was lucky her days off were Saturday and Sunday. He chuckled and lightly pushed her shoulder.   
"Come on! When we were bullying Joyeux you seemed pretty confident. Now when I talk to you directly you become a stuttering school girl?" he chuckled. "Boy, oh boy. The price of friendship is steep."   
"You don't even play Zack," she shot back ruefully.   
"No, but I am Cloud." The fox stuck his tongue out at her and she playfully bumped him with her shoulder. She was overjoyed that they got along so well and she didn't need to put up a wall of professionalism in front of these two goofballs. She was so nervous when they sat beside her and now she can comfortably call two Zootopia celebrities her friends. She spent the next several hours with them until after midnight. She was currently nodding off happily on the couch in the Veruc dressing room as the crew had their final meeting before their movie releases next month. There was a creak as the door opened and Natasha walked in. The older vixen looked surprised that anyone was in the room as all other guests had left. She only stayed behind because Nathan offered to bring her home since it was so late into the night.   
"Hello, little one," she said as she sat next to the rabbit. When she first called Lauren "little one," the officer was offended that it referred to her size. But apparently the movie star calls all younger mammals that. Well, just the ones she was close with.   
"Hello, Mrs. Veruc," she greeted back while stifling a yawn.   
"You have work tomorrow?" The question surprised her. She looked at the fox with half lidded eyes and nodded. "Then let me help you sleep, da?." The Arctic fox pulled her close to her chest without waiting for an answer. She began rubbing the rabbit's head lovingly as she hummed a random tune. Lauren was brought back to her early childhood, before she told her mother she wanted to be a police officer, like her. She snuggled into Natasha's chest fur and fell asleep.   
She was disturbed from her slumber briefly as she felt strong arms carry her from the vixen's lap. She vaguely heard an exchange of whispers before she was engulfed in warmth again. She was gently shaken awake by Nathan in the passenger seat of his car.   
"Time to go home, Lauren," he said softly. "I'll walk you up." The fox helped her out of the car and carried her up to her apartment. He put her down as she pulled out her house key from a pocket sewn into the inside of the dress. She opened the door and turned to wave to the fox as he left.  
"See you Saturday," he said as he walked off. The rabbit locked her door and stumbled out of her dress and onto her bed. She was out before she hit the pillow.   
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
"Well that went well," Leon chuckled as he watched the scene from the pool. He looked up at the human in armor as a cream rabbit drew a spell circle around him.   
"Wow, it's almost as if my plan worked," the human responded with sarcasm. The rabbit dusted her paws off and stood next to Karma. The two held up their hands and began chanting a spell. "I better be something cool!" The human yelled before he was engulfed in a ball of light that shrunk until it was smaller than Leon. The light dispersed and all that remained was a black rabbit wearing the human's clothes.  
"Well, you're not cool, Ion," Leon said as he looked down at him. "But you're pretty cute."  
"What?!" The human turned rabbit exclaimed and looked down at himself. "I'm a rabbit?!" The rabbit threw his hands up in exasperation.  
"Look, it's not that bad-" Dian started before a glare from the rabbit stopped him.  
"Don't you dare short-sell what I'm doing for these two," the rabbit said coldly. The usual humor in his tone was gone, reminding Leon of what little of his past he knew. "My pride as a human always came first for me, even over my morals. Changing into another species is usually against my code."  
"He's right, Dian," Karma said as she poured herself another cup of coffee. "He usually wouldn't have to do this, but you are a pacifist and Leon is too young and unstable."   
"That's right!" Ion exclaimed venomously as he pointed his thumb at himself. "Now sit your flower-picking butt down as I go down there and do the gods' dirty work." He turned around to walk out the room as Serendipity called after him.  
"You have your papers, right?"  
"Everything a rabbit officer needs," the rabbit said dismissively as the doors closed behind him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone wondering, the human turned into a rabbit is both the best and worst of human nature, which will be explained in the story. His experiences with his violent history will help push him to find a solution for the interspecies dilemma. He also is a great comparison between humans and the mammals in Zootopia. Once he opens up. I thought the human element would help ground the story down as he questions others on their own merits as he already put his own to rest.

**Author's Note:**

> One of my first stories I've written in three years. Decided to dust off the old creative engine before moving to some original works. Note: Divine beings have certain rules and regulations they have to follow. Mostly observance. Champions and simple mortals under their command have a limited amount of major things they can tweak. That goes for both sides.


End file.
